Electric snowmobile and PWC specialist Taiga Motors (Montreal, Canada; TSX: TAIG) is expanding its footprint across Scandinavia with the delivery of additional Nomad snowmobiles to its key customers SkiStar and Motorbutiken Klövsjö. In addition, Taiga is continuing its expansion in the European market with snowmobile deliveries at French and Italian ski resorts and tour operators, "revolutionising the winter recreation industry with its sustainable and high-performance electric sleds". Europe accounts for 20% of the global snowmobile market.
Controlled by the Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC headquartered Carlyle Group, Italian motorcycle G&A group Dainese (TCX Boots, AGV Helmets etc.) has opened its latest U.S. 'Brand Store' in Atlanta, GA. The new Atlanta 'D-Store' retail location offers an "extensive range of Dainese's cutting-edge motorcycle apparel, including leather suits, jackets, pants, gloves, boots and advanced protective gear. Carlyle acquired an 80% stake in Dainese from Bahrain Sovereign Wealth Fund Investcorp in 2022; founder Leo Dainese still owns 20% of the business. It was recently announced that Harley is to sell an AirBag Vest that incorporates Dainese's 'D-air' safety technology.
In a move that smacks of desperation and militates directly against the stated advantages of getting LiveWire production out of Milwaukee and away from Harley's conventional platforms, LiveWire operations are being moved to, yes, you guessed it - Milwaukee! The LiveWire team will be relocated to the historic Juneau Avenue site, which has been mostly vacant since the pandemic and where production ceased in 1973. The switch means trying to move staff to Wisconsin from its present Mountain View, CA. 'laboratory'. "We expect the consolidation of our operations in Milwaukee at Harley-Davidson's historic headquarters at Juneau Avenue to bring synergies and efficiencies, as well as a closer connection to our heritage," Karim Donnez, LiveWire CEO. H-D CEO Jochen Zeitz was rather more clear-eyed about the decision, stating that the relocation would reduce LiveWire's costs. The electric motorcycle spin-off brand's revenue fell 39% in Q1, even though it sold a few more bikes. Zeitz says it will cut about 10% of the headcount and 15% of the cost related to employees. LiveWire has about 230 employees in the U.S. The move should reduce operating losses by about $10m this year. LiveWire sold 117 bikes in the first quarter of 2024, up from 63 in the same period of 2023, despite which operating losses were $29m.
An Anglo-German couple (Lavi Scholl and Ollie Gamblin) have set a new Guinness world record, becoming the youngest pair to circumnavigate the world on a motorcycle, two-up. Riding a donated and near trouble-free V-Strom 1050XT, they visited 39 countries on five continents and covered 46,705 miles in 589 days.
According to The Economist, Vienna has taken top spot again, for the third consecutive year, as the world's "most liveable city". It was followed by Copenhagen, Zurich, Melbourne and Calgary tied fifth, equal with Geneva. No American, German, Italian, British or Swedish city made the Top 10. The world's worst city to live in? Sadly, it is Damascus. One of the world's oldest and once most advanced, wealthiest and cultured of cities has now posted 12 straight years as the least desirable place to call home. Tripoli, Algiers, Lagos and Karachi make up the bottom five.
Honda R&D (India) Private Limited (HRID), a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and functioning as Honda’s research and development arm for motorcycles and power products in India, has opened a new Solutions R&D Centre in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Honda has set a global target of achieving carbon neutrality in its motorcycle products during the 2040s.
